William c



W. 0., GRIMES.

. SPARK ARRESTER.

No. 4,046. Patented May 13, 1845 UNITED STATES TENT ()FFIGE.

WILLIAM C. GRIMES, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

SPARK-ARRESTER.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 4,046, dated May 13, 1845; AntedatedJanuary 1, 1845.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WM. 0. GRIMEs, of thecity of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in the Construction of Spark-Arresters; and I dohereby declare that the following is a full and exact de scriptionthereof.

To arrest, and separate the coals, sparks, and ignited particles, fromthe gaseous current that rushes from the chimneys of locomotive steamengines, various methods have been contrived, and numerous devicesessayed, the best of which however have been but partially successful.Screens formed of woven wire or perforated plates of sheet metal havebeen most generally employed and when so arranged as to present asufficiently extended surface have partially answered the purpose andhavebeen generally adopted. But when used as mere screens, or in theabsence of any other device, it is only the larger or coarser particlesthat are retained, as the meshes o-r perforations to prevent beingchoked with soot or bituminous matter, are made of a size that allows adangerous shower of fire to escape.

In my improved spark arrester though a screen or perforated surface isused, it is so formed and combined with a spiral thread, or segments ofa spiral thread or threads within the chimney, that the smoke, steam,&c., are made to revolve spirally as they ascend the chimney, andthereby exert a centrifugal force which becomes the principal agent inseparating the sparks or other solid particles from the gaseous fluid.Hence no particle however minute escapes the action of the forceemployed to separate them, from the gaseous current. The arrangement ofparts by which I obtain this end may be variously modified but thearrangement now to be described, consists in placing an invertedperforated cone Ain the upper part of the chimney B. That part ofthechimney corresponding in form with the invented: cone. Within thispart of the chimney I place a broad spiral thread or'segments of threadsC, C, formed of sheet iron or other materiah These are attached firmlyto its inner surface, and

i when continuous, it somewhat resembles the the funnel part of thechimney, and reaches near to the top, traversing through the space orchamber between the walls of the chimney and the perforated cone orscreen. The thread or threads atfirst rise nearly vertical or parallelwith the axis of the chimney,

but soon decline and become more and more horizontal or divergent as thechimney widens, until at last it becomes very nearly horizontal. Thusone or more spiral fiues are formed whereby the gaseous current andapertures made in the side of it, they fly off into an exterior space orchamber D, formed by the case or jacket E, that incloses the same Theouter case E, and the inverted cone A rise two or more inches above thechimney to leave the necessary space for the sparks to escape into thechamber D, where by their own gravity they fall to the bottom thereof.From this chamber they are discharged as occasion requires through thespout or opening F. A broad flat ring or cap G covers the space orchamber D, and connects the outer case with the inverted cone, orcontrol screen, it being riveted to the former and attached by screws aa to the latter, a broad fianch being turned out upon the upper end ofthe cone for that purpose. The lower part of the cone is leftimperforate, the better to resist the violent action of the exhauststeam against it.

In order to increase the area of the perfo-' rate surface andconsequently the area of aperture (so essential. in obtaining a gooddraft) I sometimes give to the surface of the cone a ridged orcorrugated form the ridges and furrows running either longitudinally, oraround the cone; when in the former direction, they resemble the plaitsor folds of a ladys fan when half opened. as

represented in the transverse section Figure 5. v

lVhen the grooves or folds run in the other direction the exteriorappearance is that of a cone with deep sharp grooves or furrows turnedinto it, see longitudinal section Fig. i, where the upper part of thecone has this form given to it.

The manner of making or forming such a grooved or corrugated cone orscreen, is too obvious to require much description; WVhen the groovesare longitudinal it may be formed simply by folding the perforated sheetcontinuously back and forth after the.

slightly convex are attached to each other by riveting alternately attheir inner and outer edges.

In the drawings annexed, Fig. 1, is a perspective view of the chimneystack with a portion of the lower part removed. Fig. 2, is a perspectiveview of the inverted cone, as being raised out of the chimney, with thecap D and a portion of the exterior case attached to it. Fig. 8, is aperspective view of the chimney proper showing a part of the spiralthreads as attached to the inner surface of the upper and enlarged partof the chimney. Fig. 4, is a vertical section through the center of theentire stack. Fig. 5, is a horizontal section of the same at, (Z, (Z.

Having thus fully shown and set forth the structure and principle of myimprovement in spark arresters, I would further observe, that I do notmean to confine myself to the precise form or modification described,but intend to vary the same as experience may dividually as they havelong been known.

But the placing of a spiral thread within the chimney proper,andcombining it withso as to form spiral flues around-'a perforated cone orscreen, I verily believe to be features of novelty, as they are ofutility.

What I claim as new, and as constituting my invention, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is,

The giving to the gaseous current a rotary motion around a central,conical, or other formed screen, by means of a spiral thread, or threadscombined therewith, which traverse the chamber and form spiral fluesaround the same; whereby the sparks and other solid particles floatingin the gaseous current acquire a centrifugal force, that throws them offthrough proper openings into an exterior chamber, while the gases escapethrough the central screen, as herein before set forth.

WVM. C. GRIMES.

\Vitnesses ARMON DAVIS, M. GANIQUES.

